This turned into one of my favorite holiday cookie recipes. Each year, through our local chapter of National Charity League, Inc., we bake and donate batches of cookies to the first responders (police, fire, EMS) in our community. The decorating is very simple, but the results are awesome! Of course, they taste great too!
These are thin and crispy gingerbread cookies (not soft and chewy), so roll them thin to about 1/4 inch thickness. Keep re-rolling and cutting unused dough. Use parchment paper and some extra flour for rolling.
You will get varying amounts of cookies depending on the size of the cutter. We made a double batch here to bring to our local first responders for the holidays.
Don’t they look great? They were all done freehand, very quickly with a very small pastry bag tip.
- 3 cups flour plus more for rolling
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 of a stick softened)
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons water
- Mix dry ingredients together and set aside (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves).
- In a large mixing bowl beat butter, brown sugar, egg, molasses, and vanilla until well blended.
- Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and continue to beat until well combined.
- Divide dough into 2 equal portions, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Roll one portion of dough on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. You can place dough between parchment paper for rolling. Use cookie cutters to create desired shapes. Re-roll leftover dough and continue cutting shapes. Repeat with second portion of dough.
- Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes until firm. Cool completely before icing.
- Prepare icing by mixing powdered sugar, corn syrup and water. It should be thin enough to fit through the smallest tip of an icing bag, but not drippy. You can adjust consistency if necessary.
- Pour icing into an icing bag or pastry bag with the smallest tip. You can also use a small plastic bag and cut the smallest tip in the corner. Decorate as desired.